Our book to mark the 50th anniversary of the club has been published and is available from A.M.Grieves, Newsagents, High Street, Moffat and a few other outlets. Alternatively you can order by post and for this you should contact Iain directly for an order form and pricing information. We also have souvenir button badges (50p each) and car window stickers (£1.50 each) showing the new club logo. These are only available from A.M.Grieves and, again, mail order can be accommodated if you contact Iain.

A reminder that our Coffee Morning will be held on Saturday, 26th May at 10.30am in Moffat Town Hall. Admission is £1.50 per adult and free for children. There will be all the usual stalls and raffles (raffle tickets now available). There is again a special raffle for a wood carving, this time of a Roe Deer, by local chainsaw artist Peter Bowsher. The carving is on display at the 'paper shop' and the special raffle tickets are now available (£1) in the paper shop. All raffle tickets will, of course, also be available at the Coffee Morning. Drag your mouse over the image to see a larger version.

13th May 2012
John's garden in Greenwood Close had a brief visit from a Tree Sparrow this morning, the first seen since he moved there in 2004. Not exactly a common bird around here. A nice change from all the House Sparrows!

5th May 2012
Suzanne Storm from Lochmaben visited our reserve this week and took this lovely picture of a Treecreeper. Click on the wee picture to see a bigger version of it.

 

3rd May 2012
There was a male Garganey on the Quarry Reserve last night. Was using the raft which also had two Oystercatchers on it. Good views from the hide. First ever for the Moffat/Beattock area. Not there tonight though.

2nd May 2012
More sightings from Dave Bradshaw -
29/04/12, Courance - 1 Whimbrel
30/0412, Broomlands - 2 House Martins
02/05/12, Broomlands - 4 House Martins, 2 Swallows, 1 Blackcap
02/05/12, Earshaigs / Southern Upland Way - 14 singing male Willow Warblers, 3 singing male Chiffchaffs, 8 Siskins, Chaffinch, Goldcrest, 6 Crossbills, Sparrowhawk, Redpolls, Mistle Thrush,
GS Woodpecker, 2 Canada Geese, 1 Teal, 2 Mallard, 2 Dunnock, 1 Grasshopper Warbler, 6 Tree Pipit, Grey Heron.

And from Iain - had a Swift on the 1st May above Moffat and while working at the Reserve today, Garry, Jock and I, had another three Swifts fly over and there were singing Sedge Warbler, Garden Warbler, Blackcap and Willow Warbler and the Redstart was still singing around the farm. Two pairs of Canada Geese on the wetland area with 1 male Teal.

26th April 2012
Some reports from Dave -
Monday 23/04 - 2 Dippers feeding young in the nest Evan Water, also 2 Grey Wagtails, 1 Willow Warbler
Tuesday 24/04, Castle Loch - 1 Blackcap, 1 Chiffchaff. Courance 18.00pm - 52 Fieldfare
wednesday 25/04, Castle Loch - 1 Blackcap, 1 Garden Warbler, 1 Chiffchaff, 50 Sandmartins, 1 Shelduck, 7 Willow Warbler. 1 Swallow in Lochmaben.
Bankend Wood 25/04 - 1 Redstart, 1 Willow Warbler
Evan Water 25/04 - 1 Blackcap

20th April 2012
John, now back from his sojourn to Italy, noted a Swallow on the wires above Well Road today. Italy had little new to offer apart from there being a bit more in the way of small birds and regular sightings of black squirrels - these, by the way, are a black form of the Red Squirrel, possibly a sub-species, and are quite common. Both the normal 'red', albeit almost totally black, and its sub-species (equally almost black) are to be found there. The Grey Squirrel (and its black variant) have not yet reached that area. Had a wonderful visit to a near neighbour with a large tract of ground (about 7 hectares, I think) which includes a wonderfully secluded den - apparently well occupied by Porcupine though none were sighted. A great little 'nature reserve' there.

Some reports from Dave Bradshaw:
(date uncertain) - had my first Willow Warbler at Castle Loch early yesterday morning before work. He was singing away even though it was quite cold.
14th - had a pair of Ring Ouzels at Mennock Water. Short-eared Owl on the Leadhills - Elvanfoot road, a few pairs of Wheatears. Watermeetings - 20 Golden Plover, 28 Lapwings, 22 Oysterctacher and 3 Redshank. Allershaw Lodge - 1 Short- eared Owl, 2 Curlew. Daer Reservoir - 2 Black Grouse on hill above farm. Between Allershaw Lodge and Daer - 22 Fieldfares, first seen for months.
15th - 2 swallows flew north over me outside the house at mid day, they did not hang a round. One of my work mates rang me form the park at Beechgrove tonight to tell me their were 30 hirundianes over station parkpond 18.45 pm. He was not sure if they were Sand Martins or Swallows (he is not a birdwatcher) but I think they were Sand Martins. The reserve birds could be back. The next few days should see a different picture with respect to migrants being present.
17th - Bankend Wood, monday morning - Willow Warbler back. Good views of a pair of Goldcrest. Walking back home, a pair of Linnets in the lane. 1 Swallow in Beattock while a got the bus. Today, 1 Swallow at Broomlands, has not stayed, and 3 Oystercatchers in the field next to the house.

And lastly, a report from Ian -
Scott Little reported seeing a number of Swallows in the Beattock area on the 5th. While out doing the long 15 mile paper round while my dad was recovering from his operation, I managed to see a number of birds including quite a lot of Song Thrush and Greenfinch around and Bullfinches at various locations such as Hydro Avenue and The Glebe. The 6th saw the start of a major northerly movement of the last of the Pinkfeet. The 10th saw a Hedgehog on my lawn at 4.45am and a Grey Squirel was seen at Archbank. On the 11th at the reserve were 2 calling Chiffchaff, 4 Willow Warbler, Bullfinch, Treecreeper, Sparrowhawk among many wetland/woodland species. Scott Little reported the first House Martin at Beattock. A late visit to the Community Reserve on the 12th produced 15-20 Sand Martins over the lochan. A Grey Heron, 9 Canada Geese, 3 Mallard, 4 Goosander, 3 Tufted Duck and 2 Oystercatcher were also around. While talking to Jock at the reserve on the evening of the 13th we both saw our first Swallows as two flew overhead.
Chipping Day on the 14th was a great success and we possibly chipped even more than any other day. Iain, Garry, Scott, Davey, Jon and Norman worked very hard and it was mainly dry and bright and all we have to do is move a mountain of wood chippings!!!! There were 6 singing Willow Warblers, 2 Chiffchaff, 3 Sand Martin and 4 Teal around.
On the 15th Scott and Janet Little had three Lesser Redpolls coming into the garden with the Siskins arriving back in really good numbers and this wee group increased to five on the 16th and the male Lesser Redpoll were looking very good at this point in the spring.

2nd April 2012
More Chiffchaffs - Dave heard one at Station Park behind the Co-op Saturday and yesterday and Andrew Scorfield had one at Heatheryhaugh today so they are here in reasonable numbers. Dave also saw 5 Sandmartins over the pond at Station Park yesterday.

Note that this will be the last entry on our website for the next fortnight or so (John off on his annual 'pilgrimage' to Italy!)

1st April 2012
From Dave Bradshaw - had another Chiffchaff on the first bend of the Lochmaben road from Courance on Tuesday, also a Yellow Hammer. Been to Castle Loch early before work twice this week, all the winter ducks have gone and no sign of any hurindines yet. Today got another Chiffchaff just before Longtown and a female Long- tailed Duck on Longtown Pools. Also a pair of Goosander from Beattock Bridge (Brigg Inn) on the river this morning.
And from Ian - I have heard a number of Chiffchaff calling in the Moffat area since Thursday 29th March. Six calling on Saturday 31st including Sidmount Avenue and Old Carlisle Road. Garry had a calling bird at our reserve on Friday 30th March also. Scott Little had a very early and good record of a Swallow over Beattock on Friday 30th March, the good weather for the past 10 days will have helped move migrants much quicker. Birds are leaving gardens quite quickly though I have seen a few Song Thrush the past week or so at a number of locations such as Park Circle and Dundanion Road. Garry had a probable female Yellowhamer on the Beattock road near to the turn off for the Dyke Reserves.

25th March 2012
John's pond peaked out at over 100 frogs a week or so ago. Quite congested as the pond is only 8ft in diameter. The numbers are declining now with about 30-40 remaining. This is an unusually long mating period but, so far, there is far less spawn than you would expect, well down on previous years. The pond is also holding a fair number of Ramshorn snails, more than ever seen previously. Also have newts back after losing huge numbers of immature ones during the last two hard winters so fingers crossed.
The mild weather is bringing wildlife out of hibernation. Quite a few bumblebees out and about and there are small numbers of Tortoisehell butterflies on the move.
The current southwesterly winds may help to bring summer migrants up from Africa/Europe. Dave Bradshaw heard a Chiffchaff on the 'APR' behind the old telephone exchange a few days ago so some migrants are already here. Our 'own' birds are busy exploring nest sites, some are building and some are undoubtedly already nested.

1st March 2012
It's that time of year again - tonights rain has brought a mass influx of frogs to John's pond in Greenwood Close. Rough count of around 50, the most ever. Previous years have seen increases from about 20 when the pond was first established until steadying at about 35 for the past few years.

20th February 2012
As most of you will be aware, extensive work has been going on at the Reserve, mostly by our stalwarts Iain, Garry and Scott Little due to the recent non-availability of Davey and John. The three have been doing a grand job in the meantime. Work includes the felling of obstructive and dangerous trees, clearing windfalls, redigging ditches (photo) to improve badly needed drainage and chipping up the extensive piles of logs and branches collected. An industrial chipper has been hired on two occasions. The chippings from the first session have now been used to refurbish part of the pathways (photo). It looks great and should be much easier to maintain in the future. On the second hire last Saturday, a considerable collection of logs and branches have been chipped (photos) with the most welcome aid of some additional volunteers. We now have a huge pile of chippings and these will be used to refurbish more of the paths over the next few weeks. If anyone wants to help by pushing barrows, come down any Saturday about 10.00am. We also do work most Wednesdays, also at about 10.00am though the need to earn a living sometimes prevents this!

6th February 2012
Have just received the annual County Mammal Report for 2011 from Andy Riches and have posted it here so you can read it. Be aware that it quite a large file so will need a bit of extra time to load. As Andy points out, the findings are only as good as the reports he receives and he would welcome reports of sightings of any of the creatures listed (or any others previously unreported of course). We have a tendency to think around the 'glamour' of birds and so overlook the considerable number of mammals in the area (especially the marine ones though we may never see them around Moffat!) that make up a significant part of our 'wildlife' environment. Andy is scheduled to give us a talk at our meeting on the 9th of March and I am sure he will considerably expand on the subject.

15th January 2012
From Iain -
December 2011 - Lost most sightings so the only records that I have are 3 Black Grouse seen by Garry Tait between Tweedhopefoot and Tweedsmuir on the 7th. A Red Kite was seen around Kilbrook Farm, Wamhray and a male Blackcap was seen by Mr Scott in the Frenchlands Drive/Crosslaw Burn area.
2012 January - Two Mute Swans appeared at our reserve on the 4th to join the 50 Mallard and 12 Teal and before the rest of the team arrived Garry Tait watched the "tagged" male Golden Eagle pass by. A male Lesser Redpoll was seen by Jessie Watson in her garden up St Ninians Road on the 6th. While leading a guided walk on the 7th Garry watched a Short Eared Owl in the Cauldholm area near Beattock and Ms Sharp of Dundanion Road had her first ever sighting in her garden of a Great Spotted Woodpecker and was also being visited by a hen Pheasant like a number of people in the town. A male Goosander paid a brief visit to our reserve on the morning of the 7th.
At the Club meeting on the 13th there were a number of records including two Otters seen along the River Annan north of the Station Park towards the former Sand Martin colony near the old School Playing fields, while in the Annanside area a Rat was seen and a Fox visited a garden in the Mill Burn area. Different locations for the "tagged" Golden Eagle were reported including Kinnel Head, Talla, Fruid and now at Tweedsmuir. Scott and Janet Little were down at the Quarry that day and saw 14 Canada Geese, 2 Mute Swan and 2 Grey Herons. While working at the reserve on the 14th the Kingfisher paid a visit only to find a large part of the reserve was frozen though there was enough open water for the bird to fish.

And from Dave Bradshaw on 8th January - 10 Fieldfares 1 Redwing in the field in front of our house this morning. And (date unknown) - went on to Caerlaverock, no Green Winged Teal but had 4 European White Fronted Geese, Tree Sparrow, Yellowhammer, etc. Had both Green and G S Woodpecker at Ae Forest with 8 Crossbills

8th January 2012
Despite the poor weather, our stalwarts have been busy down at the reserve. More unwanted trees have been felled. An industrial wood-chipper has been hired and used to chip up a considerable quantity of the branches from the felling and the smaller trunks. The fair old quantity of woodchips obtained is now being used to refurbish footpaths.
For those of you who wondered what the effects of two hard winters, followed by the prolonged wet spell from the summer of 2011 onwards, may have on our bird population then the answer seems to be 'not a lot'. Records for the last three years of bird sightings at 18 Greenwood Close have been compiled. You can view the results by clicking here. (This is a 242kb PDF file so you should be able to view it easily)